Lisa at Small Leafed Shamrock has been organising the 20th edition of the Carnival of Irish Heritage and Culture* – and this time round the theme is to share tips and tricks that we’ve learned from our own experience in the genealogical search.
So here are 10 tips that I’ve come up with…not at all exhaustive so feel free to add your own in the comments section!
1. Let’s start at the very beginning…
It sounds obvious, but start with the most recent ancestor and work backwards. This is particularly important if you are from a family that emigrated from Ireland. Focus on getting as much information about your ancestors as you possibly can from the records in your country first, in particular the location within Ireland that your ancestors were from. If you are in America then the American’s Guide to Researching your Irish Ancestors that Fiona Fitzsimons of Eneclann and I put together will give you some suggestions as to what you should do before you embark on research within the Irish records.
2. Ensure you have material evidence for your research findings
By this I mean that it is important to distinguish between fact and hypothesis. If you have a copy of a birth record for your great-great-grandmother that states she was born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim then you can reasonably assume this to be fact. If you also have transcribed her baptism record from microfilm or the parish register which also suggests she was born there makes it even more likely to be true – particularly if the parents names are given and both sources correspond. But if your great-aunt Bridget told you that your great-great-grandmother was born in Ballymena, Co. Antrim then you should only jot this down in your notes as an hypothesis, not as a hard fact. In my head I think of it as information that can be written down in ink (i.e. 100% accurate) versus pencil (hypothesis), and where possible I try to corroborate each of my sources though this can be harder the further back you go with your research. Note: Sources do not just have to be paper documents; gravestones and memorials are examples of other equally valid sources.
3. Be organised: file copies of your sources, make explanatory notes and then back it all up!
It is very easy to get lost under a pile of papers. After a day’s research I try to write up my findings when I get home and download any photos, or scan any certificates etc. to my computer straight away. This is beneficial for three reasons: firstly, it means your work is organised; secondly, it is easier to remember what your notes mean (in 6 months time you might find them harder to interpret), and finally I find that once I have written up the day’s findings I start to think around my research, working out what I should do next and making connections between information that I have found previously and what I found today. (For instance I might notice that a sponsor of a baptism has the same surname as someone on a marriage certificate that I found previously). Last of all back up all your data for obvious reasons! (This applies to both paper and digital records as either can go missing unexpectedly…)
4. Have a running ‘To-Do List’
After my trip to an archive, I update my To-Do list online. In this Word document I have headings for each repository and underneath each is a list of bullet points stating what records I would like to look at and why. That way if I get some unexpected free time then I can simply print off the to do list and head off to the nearest repository that is open without losing much time.
5. Check the opening hours of the repository before you go
Talking of losing time, one thing I did in the early days which I hope never to repeat was to turn up at the National Library on Thursday evening thinking it would be open till 9pm. My logic here was that late night shopping in Dublin is on a Thursday, so the archive would be open then too. Unfortunately I was wrong, though I did manage to find a nice pair of shoes instead!
6. Check the last ordering times for documents
Unfortunately if the clock has gone past the last ordering time then the archivists or librarians are not going to call up another document for you, despite your pleas that you will be able to get it back to them before the library closes. So, check the last ordering times and try to get your order in half an hour or so before then, to avoid the mad stampede…
7. Never assume that your ancestors spelt your surname the same way as you do (or place of origin for that matter).
You often hear people saying things like ‘well our family spells it S-M-Y-T-H not S-M-I-T-H’ so they can’t be part of our family. One family I am researching has the surname ‘Neilan’ which I’ve also seen spelled Nilan, Niland and even Neylon. Spellings were not as consistent as they are nowadays for a number of reasons – perhaps an ancestor could not read or write for instance, in which case someone else would have to write the name for them which would be the way they thought it should be spelled. Other times, an official might record information on their behalf, or a friend might act as an informant of a birth or death. The same goes for placenames – I was amused to find someone arriving to the States from Haggistown (actually Hacketstown, Co. Carlow).
8. Don’t assume your ancestors did things on time…
Sometimes late entries were made for civil records. If this was the case then the relevant information might have been inserted in the main body of the index, but very often you’ll find it included at the back of the index, so make sure you always check there too (assuming you are using the bound volumes rather than online version). I have come across a case where a family member was born in 1913 but her birth was not registered until 15 years later. I had looked through the indexes 10 years either side of 1913 without luck. In the end I went to my local registrar who was able to do a search within their database on both parents’ names (very handy!) and she was able to show me that the birth had been registered retrospectively in 1928!
A related issue is that you might come across a baptism entry in a parish register that does not seem to tally with one in the civil records - seemingly the child was baptised a month or two before his/her birth! The Births and Deaths Registration (Ireland) Act, 20th April 1863 stated that parents (or other appropriate parties) were required to give notice of a birth within 21 days of it taking place, and to complete the registration form within 3 months of the birth. They could be asked to pay a penalty ‘not exceeding 20 shillings’ for not giving notice, and ‘not exceeding 40 shillings’ for failing to complete the registration form. Rather than pay this fine, parents who forgot would often alter the birth date slightly so that it fell within the correct timeframe. Baptism records, being organised by the church, were not linked at all to the civil records, so the correct date may have been provided by the parents in these, and the baptism may have taken place prior to them organising the civil registration.
And finally, another favourite of mine – the ancestor who ages dramatically between 1901 and 1911 (probably in order to qualify for the Old Age Pension).
9. Be creative
So we only have two complete census returns extant in Ireland, but there is a wealth of other records out there to be reviewed. I’ve found that often when I am just about ready to give up on researching a branch of my family, I come across another source that adds to my research (not necessarily taking me back further but often adding colour to my existing work). So, if you come to a brick wall, think creatively about what else you could do.
One approach that is often very interesting is to trace sideways if you can’t trace back…An ancestor of mine was born just prior to civil registration and the baptism records for the parish only go back to the 1880s. I knew my g-g-g-grandfather’s forename and surname and my g-g-g-grandmother’s first name. I was not sure of her maiden name though I had reason to think it was McGuinness. In a newspaper notice of my g-g-grandmother’s marriage it stated that she was the ‘eldest’ daughter so I knew she had younger sisters – I tracked them down in the civil records, confirming who they were from the names of the parents and their address. These records showed that g-g-g-granny’s surname was Maginnis (see back to #7). Other records confirmed that the other two girls were my g-g-granny’s sisters, so I have been able to confirm my hypothesis.
Of course by tracing sideways and down, you may come across living relatives that you were previously unaware of. I did this and found a cousin in Liverpool who happened to have some photos of family members from the 1920s which added colour to my research. He had also met some of these people and told me about them, their characters etc. This really brought my research to life
10. Have fun!
*What is a Blog Carnival?
There’s a good explanation on the Blog Carnival website, but essentially it is like a magazine, addressing a given topic and gathering together blog articles that relate to this theme.
